Aaron Taylor-Johnson is one of Hollywood’s most bankable action stars and is rumored to be a top contender for the next installment in the James Bond franchise, but it’s his role as a family man that remains paramount.
The British actor opened up about his marriage to filmmaker Sam Taylor-Johnson and his relationship with their children in a candid interview with Esquire for the magazine’s September issue, unveiled this week.
The couple’s 11-year marriage has been the subject of ample media speculation given that Sam Taylor-Johnson ― whose credits include “Fifty Shades of Grey” ― is 23 years her husband’s senior. The two met while working on the 2009 John Lennon biopic “Nowhere Boy,” when Aaron was 18 and Sam was 41.
Speaking to Esquire, Aaron Taylor-Johnson said he steered clear of blockbuster movie projects early in his career as he “wanted, purely, to be with my babies,” referring to daughters Romy Hero, 11, and Wylda Rae, 13.
“I didn’t want to be taken away from them. I battled with what that would be like,” noted the “Kick-Ass” and “Bullet Train” star, who is also a co-parent to his wife’s daughters Jessie, 16, and Angelica, 25, whom she shares with ex-husband Jay Jopling. “I would say I was probably not ready to be in that position anyway — it was too early. But yeah, I also slightly didn’t give a fuck.”
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Though the Taylor-Johnsons met while working on a film, the actor shrugged off the implication that his marriage works because it’s rooted in a creative partnership.
“Yeah, we worked — I met Sam as actor and director. I think we’re really great at collaborating,” he said. “But that’s not why I fell in love with her.” As for starting a family at a young age, that was something that was always in his life plan: “I was going to have a big family. I knew I was going to be a young father. I knew I was going to have many kids.”
A Golden Globe winner for 2016’s “Nocturnal Animals,” Aaron Taylor-Johnson recently completed work on three films: “The Fall Guy” and “Kraven the Hunter,” both slated for release next year, and “Nosferatu.”
His name is also frequently mentioned alongside fellow actors Henry Golding and Regé-Jean Page in discussing who might succeed Daniel Craig as James Bond in the 007 franchise.
The actor shrugged off the Bond discourse, noting that he hoped to focus solely “on the things I can have in my hands right now. What’s in front of me right now.” And, from the sounds of it, he’s got more personal commitments to look forward to.
“I enjoy the normality of things, the everyday stuff,” he told Esquire. “Getting my kids ready in the mornings, taking them to school and activities — that’s plenty. That feeds my soul.”